


Young Love

by Silverheart



Series: Bats and Birds [5]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games)
Genre: Batman's Love Life is a Disaster, Caught in the Act, F/M, Papa Bruce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 09:11:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4516179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverheart/pseuds/Silverheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A certain lack of restraint in the Batcave proves embarrassing for some parties and awkward for another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Young Love

**a.**

Any minute now, Bruce could show up and…

It would be bad. 

Tim’s left hand tangled in Barb’s hair, while his right was on her waist, though he was slowly drifting south. His armor had been discarded somewhere, and Barb had managed to open the undersuit down to his belly. 

Bruce would beat them into a pulp.

She ran her teeth along his throat again and he forgot about Bruce.

He yanked on her suit collar again, pulling it wider. Stubborn thing. Too advanced to come off easily. He tugged again as he managed to drag her lips to hers. 

A very loud sigh went echoing through the Batcave. Tim ignored it, focusing on Barb’s groan as he reached—

“Not in the cave, Robin.”

They sprang apart as if electrocuted. Barb reached around to fasten her suit back together.

Batman simply stared at them from the stairs. Damn it. Tim could have sworn he’d taken the car tonight.

“Class at nine,” Barb squeaked, bolting for another exit.

Tim flopped back into the chair, staring up at the computer screen. This was going to be bad.

Bruce cleared his throat, coming to stand at his shoulder. “Not. In. The. Cave.”

“Just say you disapprove and get it over with.”

“No.”

Tim sat up, looking at him. “What?”

“It’s a good thing, Tim. You make each other happy.”

Tim looked silently up at his mentor for a long time. “You’re kidding.”

“No.” Bruce gave a small, bitter smile. “You _do_ make each other happy.”

“I know that! That you…approve.”

Bruce hit a button to pull the computer out of sleep mode. “How many terrible things have you seen in the world?”

He remembered the Flying Graysons, and the broken bodies in alleyways, and that video he wasn’t supposed to have found. And that was just as Robin. He remembered his family, too: his mom’s sudden violent death, his dad’s descent into mad genius status, his six-year old cousins doing calculus for fun in the trailer park with black eyes. “A lot,” he said, quietly.

“So you see why I place value on young love.” Bruce started typing some data in.

“I was expecting a lecture on unprofessionalism.”

“I’m dressed as a bat, Tim.”

That was the first time he’d ever heard Bruce acknowledge the ridiculousness of it. “I won’t hurt her.”

“Then don’t hurt her.”

Tim smiled and vacated the chair. He stepped on his armor. At least it hadn’t gone far. “No other advice?”

He paused in his typing. “None I hope you’ll need. And _not in the cave_. I work here.”

“You’re going to have to tell Barb it’s okay. She probably thinks you hate her.”

Bruce shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. “I’ll get around to it.”

**b.**

Barb avoided both men for two days. 

It wasn’t that she was ashamed, or scared (the plane of his chest beneath her hands…); it was that she was embarrassed Bruce had caught them at it. In the Batcave!

It was Batman who found her first, of course, standing on the roof of some tower. She heard him, so he wanted her attention, but she kept still, enjoying the height and feel of the wind. She could just jump off and glide away.

But no, that wouldn’t be right.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, meaning to sound casual. 

“Yes.” He came to stand next to her. “I’m not angry, Barbara.”

She blushed. “We, um, we—“

“Are dating. I know.” He paused. “I’ve known for a while.”

“Oh.” Well, World’s Greatest Detective and all.

That didn’t make her feel less embarrassed. 

“I’m glad you found each other,” Bruce said. 

“You are?”

“Very few people are that lucky.”

She thought about the women in Bruce’s life that she knew of. Not the socialite hangers on, the real ones. From what she knew—most of it pulled from Dick’s stories—not a lot of setup for happy beginnings, middles, and especially endings there. “Do you think it will be okay?” she asked delicately, “That we won’t…I don’t know, tear each other to pieces with this life?”

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Meditating? About _this_? Barbara waited for a few minutes, then he came out of it. “Do you care about him?”

She almost laughed. “Yes.”

“Then keep doing that. Keep fighting at his side. You’ll both need it.”

Barb didn’t answer, just stared out at the city. It wasn’t the most complicated advice, but then maybe it was just what _Bruce_ wanted. Poor Bruce. Not that he wanted pity. 

“It’s a good thing,” he added.

She nodded, and turned to say thank you, but he was gone.

Tim’s voice suddenly sounded over the comms. “Got a situation here at the docks.”

“Hang on, Robin,” she answered, “I’ll be there in a few.”


End file.
